Ken Barlow (Coronation Street)

:"For other uses, see Ken Barlow (disambiguation)"Infobox soap character
color=#F0E68C
series = Coronation Street
name = Ken Barlow



caption1 = William Roache as Ken Barlow in May 2008


caption2 =
first = 9 December 1960
last = -
residence = No. 1 Coronation Street
born = 9 October 1939
parents = Frank Barlow
Ida Barlow
siblings = David Barlow
spouse = Valerie Tatlock (1962-1971)
Janet Reid (1973-1977)
Deirdre Rachid (1981-1990, 2005-)
children = Peter Barlow
Daniel Osbourne
Susan Barlow
Tracy Barlow (adoptive)
grandchildren = Adam Barlow
Simon Barlow
aunts/uncles=Marjorie Barlow
grandparents= Nancy Leathers
Edna Barlow
Sidney Barlow
nieces/nephews= Darren Barlow
occupation = Retired, former teacher
portrayer = William Roache
books = "Coronation Street: The Complete Saga"
creator = Tony Warren

Kenneth "Ken" Barlow is a fictional character in the long-running British soap opera "Coronation Street". Played by William Roache, he is the only remaining character from the first episode of the series in 1960.

torylines

Ken has appeared in "Coronation Street" since its inception in December 1960. In the soap's early years, Ken was frequently presented as resenting what he saw as the anti-intellectual, repressed climate around him. A scathing article he wrote for a newspaper led to clashes with his father Frank and a Rovers punch-up with Len Fairclough. Ken never stopped standing up for what he believed was right, but as the years passed he grew to love the street and the people who lived on it.

Ken had three biological children - twins Susan and Peter, and Daniel Osbourne, the product of a relationship in later life. He also raised Tracy Barlow, his third wife Deirdre's daughter by Ray Langton. Ken has been a teacher, a newspaper editor, a community activist and a trolley-pusher at a supermarket, before returning to teaching and writing. He has been married four times, widowed twice, and divorced once, and has had 27 girlfriends, including a character played by the now-famous actress Joanna Lumley.Fact|date=September 2008

Ken's first marriage took place in July 1962, to Street resident Valerie Tatlock, with whom he had twins Peter and Susan. Ken was later offered a teaching post in Jamaica, however, on the evening of their leaving party in 1971, Valerie was electrocuted by a faulty hairdryer and was killed instantly. In the aftermath of Valerie's death, the pressure of raising Peter and Susan on his own proved too much for Ken, and he sent them to live with Valerie's parents in Glasgow.

In October 1972, Ken visited Glasgow to see his children and came back having married Janet Reid. However, Janet had no interest in being a stepmother, and the marriage quickly broke down. By May 1974, Janet had left Ken. In February 1977, Janet returned to the Street and pleaded with Ken to take her back. He refused, but agreed to let her stay the night in his home. The next morning, he discovered her dead, having taken an overdose during the night. Ken was initially suspected of murder, but was soon cleared, although it did little to assuage his guilt.

In 1979, Ken began dating divorcée Deirdre Langton, and proposed in 1981. Deirdre and Ken married later that year, although their marriage was strained when Deirdre began an affair with Ken's rival, Mike Baldwin. After Deirdre's romance with Baldwin (who had been her boyfriend before she married Ken), Ken himself formed a relationship with council secretary Wendy Crozier. When Deirdre found out, she was furious, and threw him out. Ken attempted suicide in 1991, but was saved by Bet Gilroy. Ken and Deirdre subsequently divorced but remained great friends. Ken supported Deirdre during the ordeal of being falsely accused of and jailed for fraud in the year 1998, after con man Jon Lindsay implicated her in a scam.

While Ken and Deirdre were apart, he had relationships with numerous women, including the headmistress of the school where he worked, Baldwin's ex-girlfriend Alma, and Maggie Redman, the mother of Baldwin's son Mark. The latter two affairs both resulted in further antagonism between Ken and Mike. Ken's teaching career was ruined by pupil-from-hell character Aidan Critchley, who mocked and terrorised Ken, resulting in the whole class being disrespectful to him. Aidan goaded a furious Ken into punching him, resulting in Ken losing his job and facing criminal charges. He pleaded guilty to assault but received a conditional discharge.

Ken and Deirdre reunited in the year 1999, remarrying in 2005. However, their wedding day was overshadowed by the death of Deirdre's former spouse Ray Langton, who had returned in an attempt to develop a relationship with his estranged daughter Tracy. In April 2006, Mike Baldwin died in Ken's arms, shaking Ken and Deirdre's marriage a little when Ken became annoyed by what he considered an excessive amount of grief on Deirdre's part. Their marriage suffered further when adoptive daughter Tracy was convicted of killing her boyfriend Charlie Stubbs in April 2007. After a blazing row, Ken left and began rebuilding a relationship with his son Daniel, and the boy's mother Denise Osbourne. Ken and Denise grew closer during his separation from Deirdre. Convinced that Ken wanted to rekindle their passion, Denise made a blatant attempt to win him over but when she leaned in for a kiss, he rejected her advances.

After this embarrassing encounter, Ken decided to return to Coronation Street. He and Deirdre both apologised for their treatment of one another. The couple forgave each other and reconciled. Deirdre realised that Ken wanted to keep in touch with Daniel and suggested that he continue with his contact with the boy. In July 2008, Ken befriended Ted Page, the estranged father of Gail Platt, leading his mother-in-law Blanche Hunt to believe he might be homosexual. [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/soaps/article1378223.ece]

At the beginning of September 2008 Roy and Ken were wrongly accused of drug dealing and arrested, but thanks to a intervention from Becky Granger they were set free.

Popular culture

In the UK, the character 'Ken Barlow' remains a synonym for a boring man. The British group Half Man Half Biscuit highlighted this point in their 2001 song "Lark Descending", comparing the character from "Coronation Street" with a member of the US underground music scene with the lyric: "I could have been like Lou Barlow, but I'm more like Ken Barlow."

Reception

For his portrayal of Ken, William Roache won the Lifetime Achievement award at the British Soap Awards in 1999, and an Outstanding Achievement award at the 2003 Inside Soap Awards.Fact|date=September 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.whatsontv.co.uk/soaps/coronation_street/whos_who/ken_barlow Profile] at What's on TV